Raja targets Manmohan again, his lawyer attacks CAG

Former telecom minister keeps changing statements before special court hearing 2G case. He first says he didn't intend to implicate Prime Minister, but hours later says he failed to form GoM on spectrum allocation. His lawyer calls Comptroller and Auditor General's report on 2G losses as worthless.

Former telecom minister A Raja on Tuesday blamed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for not setting up a group of ministers (GoM) to study issues related to 2G spectrum allocation. This was hours after he told a special court hearing charges against him in the 2G scam that he didn't intend to "implicate" either Singh or home minister P Chidambaram.

Raja told the court he had sent back all files on 2G spectrum to Singh and he should have called for a GoM if he had found any discrepancies. "The Prime Minister is superior to me and he could have constituted the GoM," said Raja.

Raja's lawyer, Sushil Kumar, said all actions by his client as telecom minister were part of his official duty.

"All the actions taken by the minister (Raja) were part of his official duty and he is entitled to protection," counsel Sushil Kumar said while appearing before the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) special court presided over by Judge O P Saini.

"The people of India have been informed in parliament that this case is zero loss...the government of India has taken a stand on him," he said.

Pleading with the judge to release Raja, who is a DMK MP and is lodged in Tihar jail, the defence counsel told the court that all the detention and remand orders were illegal.

"To prosecute a person now requires sanction. This is such a sensational case that nobody is looking into the law." He asked the court how the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC) could be different for Raja and the common man.

He also also termed as worthless paper the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that says the 2G scam caused a huge losses to the exchequer.

"Nowhere does the CAG report mention that he (Raja) had the obligation to auction the spectrum. This accountant who worked on the CAG report has no background in law...how can he understand this case," Raja's counsel asked.